Wonder of Trees

Celebrate the wonder of nature and share the amazing stories and mythology of trees at the inaugural “Wonder of Trees” two-day Samhain tree experience.

Wonder of Trees

Weekend Samhain Tree Experience at Powerscourt Estate

The “Wonder of Trees” experience will take place at Powerscourt Estate on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of November.  Join nature and conservation experts for morning tree & nature walks in the gardens and afternoon panel discussions at the entrance hall to Powerscourt House.

“Trees & Biodiversity” – Saturday the 2nd of November

Book a morning walk from 10 – 11.30 am with Alex Slazenger head gardener at Powerscourt Estate, Brian O’Toole from Wildacres or Olly Nolan from Olly’s Farm honey. The places on these walks are limited, please select which walk you want to attend as they run concurrently.  Book your tickets below.

The afternoon panel discussion on “Trees & Biodiversity” is hosted by broadcaster Catherine Cleary of “Pocket Forests”.  Catherine will interview and curate a panel with the following wonderful speakers –

  • Brian O’Toole – Wildacres
  • Anja Murray – Eco Eye, Wild Embrace book.
  • Alex Slazenger – Head Gardener Powerscourt Estate.
  • Ray Ó Foghlú – Hometree,  Irelands temperate rainforests.
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“Future of Trees” – Sunday the 3nd of November

Book a morning walk from 10 – 11.30 am with Alex Slazenger – Head Gardener at Powerscourt Estate, Seamus O’Brien – Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland Kilmacurragh or a tree ecology walk with ecologist Faith Wilson.

The places on these walks are limited, please select which walk you want to attend as they run concurrently.  Book your ticket below.

The afternoon panel discussion on “Future of Trees” is hosted by broadcaster Catherine Cleary of “Pocket Forests”.  Catherine will interview and curate a panel with the following wonderful speakers –

John Anderson – Keeper of the Gardens (Keeper of the Queen’s gardens) – The Crown Estate – Windsor Great Park.

Seamus O’Brien, Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Kilmacurragh.

  • Margie Phillips – Teagasc.
  • Alex Slazenger – Head Gardener Powerscourt Estate.
  • Faith Wilson – Ecologist
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Saturday Events
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Tree Walk with Alex Slazenger - 10 am - 11.30 am

Join Alex Slazenger to experience the “Tree Trail” at Powerscourt Gardens.  Alex will reflect on his own personal experience gro...

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Tree Walk with Wildacres - 10 am - 11.30 am

Native Tree Walk and Talk – discover the wonder of Ireland’s native tree species and the fascinating biodiversity they support.   Enjoy a me...

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Bee Walk with Olly from Olly's Farm - 10 am - 11.30 am

Join Olly from Olly’s Farm and resident bee keeper on Powerscourt Estate for a walk through the gardens highlighting the importance of...

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Alex Slazenger will attend all afternoon panel discussions curated by Catherine Cleary – broadcaster and founder of pocket forests at historic Powerscourt House.  The line up for the Saturday panel “Trees & Biodiversity” will feature ecologist and broadcaster Anja Murray, Ray Ó Foghlú from Hometree and Brian O’Toole from Wildacres.  The conversations will center on the important role trees play in terms of biodiversity but also in maintaining healthy ecosystems locally, nationally and globally.

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Sunday Events
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Tree Walk with Alex Slazenger - 10 am - 11.30 am

Join Alex Slazenger to experience the “Tree Trail” at Powerscourt Gardens.  Alex will reflect on his own personal experience gro...

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Book Now
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Tree Walk with Seamus O'Brien - 10 am - 11.30 am

Join Seamus O’Brien of Kilmacurragh National botanic gardens for a walk into the past and future of trees.  Seamus will give wonderful descr...

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Ecology Walk with Faith Wilson - 10 am - 11.30 am

Enjoy a unique ecology walk with Faith Wilson.  This ecology walk will showcase how trees in gardens can be a haven for wildlife like bee...

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The time is now to discuss the “Future of Trees” locally, nationally and globally.  Similarly to trees and their vast root systems we are all connected.  It could be argued that our fate and that of the planet lies in ensuring trees are thriving into the future.  We need trees not just to mitigate carbon emissions but also if not more importantly to sustain our biodiversity and our own wellbeing.

To understand how we ensure the security of our trees we need to acknowledge the past and look to the future in times of changing climate.  To ensure we future proof our trees we need to adapt.  Nature is always adapting to change, and we also need to work with nature and adapt to the new evolving realities for both humans and trees.  Whether this involves different practices such as climate matching, species selection and introducing non-native species such as Mexican Oak as part of tree management is up for discussion.

This discussion will see key experts from horticulture, conservation to foresters outline the key challenges, innovative solutions and good news stories centered on protecting trees.  Importantly the discussion will also focus on what we should be planting in our own gardens.  What projects we can volunteer on or support, and simple ways we can all collectively ensure the future of our beautiful trees.

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Samhain-themed storytelling fundraising show
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“Tree Lore – Myths & Music”

“TREE LORE – Myths & Music” Candlelit Tales will host a special Samhain-themed Storytelling fundraising show on November 3rd to raise funds and awareness for the Gaelic Woodland Project. Samhain is the Irish for November, and although the festivities of Halloween will be over, the veil is open wide throughout the whole month, and magic of...

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Speakers

John Anderson Read More

Alex Slazenger Read More

Catherine Cleary Read More

Seamus O'Brien Read More

Anja Murray Read More

Ray Ó Foghlú Read More

Brian O'Toole Read More

Faith Wilson Read More

Margie Phillips Read More

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Sustainability & Biodiversity

The long-term overarching mission at Powerscourt Estate is to be recognised on a global stage for our sustainability initiatives, and to be Net Zero by 2025.

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Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!

CTA Section Logo
Coming To Powerscourt?
WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY

This place is amazing. Soo beautiful. We’ve been many times and each time we love it. We chose to come in May but maybe next time we’ll head over in June hopefully to see all the flowers blooming. The walks are soo relaxing and the view is just amazing. This time we stayed for lunch and cannot praise enough their food. Such fresh and tasty soup and sandwiches and yummy desserts. Cannot wait for our next visit as even if it’s far away from where we live and takes almost 3 hours to drive, it’s just soo beautiful ?

We visited Powerscourt gardens for the first time in late October. The walled gardens still had a colourful display of flowers and shrubs, the trees were in wonderful autumn shades and the Japanese gardens were delightful with the Acers looking very attractive. Powerscourt is certainly worth travelling to see if you are in the area.

I’ve been here many years ago and the grounds are just as beautiful as I remembered. The new addition of shops, Avoca cafe, nursery and distillery just adds even more things to do. This is a great place to stop and spend sometime.

This garden was incredible. We went on a very rainy day and it was difficult to really enjoy the beauty that was there. We quickly walked thru the formal gardens, Japanese garden and tower house. The collection of trees were magnificent but it was raining too hard to read all the labels Would definitely go back if we get a chance.

The walled gardens are the most amazing flowers I have ever seen. I could have looked at them for hours. The rest of the grounds are very beautiful and peaceful when there aren’t large tour groups. The lunch at Avoca is very good, fresh and reasonably priced. You can even have some retail therapy at the stores. Again, the most amazing flowers!!!